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Lawrence Weiner

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Lawrence Weiner
Weiner in 2011
Born
Lawrence Charles Weiner

(1942-02-10)February 10, 1942
New York City, US
DiedDecember 2, 2021(2021-12-02)(aged 79)
New York City, US
Known forConceptual art
Lawrence Wiener in Speaking Portraits

Lawrence Charles Weiner(February 10, 1942 – December 2, 2021) was an American conceptual artist. He was one of the central figures in the formation ofconceptual artin the 1960s.[1]His work often took the form oftypographictexts, a form ofword art.

Early life and career[edit]

Lawrence Charles Weiner was born on February 10, 1942, in Manhattan, to Toba (Horowitz) and Harold Weiner.[2]His parents owned a candy store.[2]After graduating fromStuyvesant High Schoolat 16,[3]he had a variety of jobs—he worked on an oil tanker, on docks, and unloading railroad cars. After studying philosophy and literature[4]atHunter Collegefor less than a year, he traveled throughout North America before returning to New York.[5]

Work[edit]

Weiner is regarded as a founding figure ofPostminimalism's Conceptual art, which includes artists likeDouglas Huebler,Robert Barry,Joseph Kosuth,andSol LeWitt.[3]

Weiner began his career as an artist as a very young man at the height ofAbstract Expressionism.His debut public work/exhibition was at the age of 19, with what he calledCratering Piece.An action piece, the work consisted of explosives set to ignite simultaneously in the four corners of a field inMarin County, California.That work, as Weiner later developed his practice as a painter, became an epiphany for the turning point in his career.[6]His work in the early 1960s included six years of making explosions in the landscape of California to create craters as individual sculptures.[7]Weiner's early body of work is also known for his having created gestures described in simple statements leading to the ambiguity of whether the artwork was the gesture or the statement describing the gesture: e.g. "Two minutes of spray paint directly on the floor.." or "A 36" x 36 "removal of lathing or support wall..." (both 1968). In 1968, whenSol LeWittcame up with hisParagraphs on Conceptual Art,Weiner formulated his "Declaration of Intent" (1968):

1. The artist may construct the piece.

2. The piece may be fabricated.

3. The piece need not be built.

Each being equal and consistent with the intent of the artist the decision as to condition rests with the receiver upon the occasion of receivership.

Weiner created his first bookStatementsin 1968, a small 64-page paperback with texts describing projects. Published by The Louis Kellner Foundation andSeth Siegelaub,"Statements" is considered one of the seminal conceptualartist's booksof the era. He was a contributor to the famousXeroxbookalso published by Seth Siegelaub in 1968. Weiner's composed texts describe process, structure, and material, and though Weiner's work is almost exclusively language-based, he regarded his practice as sculpture, citing the elements described in the texts as his materials.[8]In the late 1960s Weiner's work was published in0 to 9 magazine,an avant-garde journal which experimented with language and meaning-making.

An important aspect of audience participation in Weiner's work is site-specificity. InSOME LIMESTONE SOME SANDSTONE ENCLOSED FOR SOME REASON(1993) he recast the iron weighbridge of the Dean Clough carpet factory, incorporating the words of the title as an em Boss ing inscription.[9]

From the early 1970s on wall installations have been Weiner's primary medium, and he has shown at theLeo Castelligallery. Recent examples can be found in numerous museum walls across the United States such as theA Wall Built to Face the Land and Face the Water at the Level of the Sea(2008), atPérez Art Museum Miami.[10]Nevertheless, Weiner works in a wide variety of media, including video, film, books,sound artusing audio tape, sculpture, performance art,installation art,andgraphic art.In 2007, he participated at the symposium "Personal StructuresTime-Space-Existence "a project which was initiated by the artistRene Rietmeyer.In 2008 an excerpt from his opera with composerPeter Gordon–The Society Architect Ponders the Golden Gate Bridge– was issued on the compilation albumCrosstalk: American Speech Music(Bridge Records) produced byMendi + Keith Obadike.In 2009 he participated in the art projectFind Me,byGema Alava,in company of artistsRobert Ryman,Merrill Wagner, and Paul Kos.

Exhibitions[edit]

Flakturm atEsterházyparkin Vienna:Zerschmettert in Stücke (im Frieden der Nacht) / Smashed to pieces (in the still of the night)(1991)

A comprehensive retrospective of Weiner's nearly 50-year career was organized by Ann Goldstein and Donna De Salvo at theMuseum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles(MOCA) and theWhitney Museum of American Art,New York in 2007–2008. Major solo exhibitions of the artist's work have been mounted at theStedelijk Museum Amsterdam(1988/89),Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden,Washington, D.C. (1990),Institute of Contemporary Arts,London (1991),Dia Center for the Arts,New York (1991), Musée d'Art Contemporain, Bordeaux (1991/92),San Francisco Museum of Modern Art(1992), The Arnhem (Sonsbeek) The Netherlands (1993)Walker Art Center,Minneapolis (1994),Philadelphia Museum of Art(1994),Museum Ludwig,Cologne (1995),Deutsche Guggenheimin Berlin (2000), Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City (2004),Tate Galleryin London (2006),[5]The Jewish Museum,NY (2012),[11]Kunsthaus Bregenz,Austria (2016),[12]and theNivola Museum,Orani, Italy (2019).[13]He participated inDocumentaV (1972), VI (1977), and VII (1982), as well as the 2005Venice Biennale,theBiennale de São Pauloin 2006, and the Venice Biennale andEuropean Cultural Centrein 2013 with his work 'The Grace of a Gesture'.[14]

Select list[edit]

Recognition[edit]

Among his many honors wereNational Endowment for the ArtsFellowships (1976 and 1983), a Guggenheim Fellowship (1994),Wolfgang Hahn Prize(1995), a Skowhegan Medal for Painting/Conceptual Art (1999), An Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from theGraduate Center,City University of New York City, (2013),[24]the Roswitha Haftmann Prize, Zurich, Switzerland (2015),[25]and the Aspen Award for Art (2017).[26]On the occasion of theDrawing Center's 2012 Spring Gala, where Weiner was being honored for his contributions to contemporary art, fellow artistEd RuschaandMason Williamscreated a three-minute tribute in the form of a parody ofBob Dylan's legendary music video for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" with placards featuring Weiner text pieces like "stars don't stand still in the sky" and "water in milk exists."[27]

Books[edit]

  • 2010:Skimming The Water – Menage A Quatre- Lawrence Weiner (Personal StructuresArt Projects Number 01)
  • 2012:GREEN AS WELL AS BLUE AS WELL AS RED.Brest: Zédélé éditions, Reprint Collection. (First edition: London: Jack Wendler, 1972.)

Personal life[edit]

Weiner and his wife Alice[28]lived onBleecker Streetfor over thirty years before moving to another residence and studio also in theWest Village,[29]in what was once an old laundromat built in 1910 and was transformed into a five-level town house designed by the firmLOT-EKin 2008.[30]

Weiner died on December 2, 2021, in Manhattan, at the age of 79.[2][31]

References[edit]

Weiner'sAt the Same Momentpainted on pilings in theEast River,as seen in 2011
Bibliography
  • Beate Reifenscheid und Dorothea van der Koelen;Arte in Movimento – Kunst in Bewegung,Dokumente unserer Zeit XXXIV; Chorus-Verlag; Mainz 2011;ISBN978-3-926663-44-3
  • Alberro, Alexander; Zimmerman, Alice; Buchloch, Benjamin H.D. and Batchelor, David.Lawrence Weiner.London:Phaidon Press,1998.
  • De Salvo, Donna and Goldstein, Ann (eds.)Lawrence Weiner: As Far as the Eye Can See.New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007.
  • Fietzek, Gerti and Stemmrich, Gregor. (eds.)Having Been Said: Writings & Interviews of Lawrence Weiner 1968–2003.Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2004.
  • Schwarz, Dieter (ed.)Lawrence Weiner: Books 1968–1989.Köln / Villeurbanne: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König / Le Nouveau Musée, 1989.
Notes
  1. ^"Lists".ArtFacts.
  2. ^abcKennedy, Randy (December 5, 2021)."Lawrence Weiner, Artist Whose Medium Was Language, Dies at 79".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedDecember 5,2021.
  3. ^abRoberta Smith(November 16, 2007),The Well-Shaped Phrase as ArtNew York Times'.
  4. ^"Lawrence Weiner".RetrievedAugust 5,2022.
  5. ^abLawrence WeinerArchivedFebruary 7, 2012, at theWayback MachineGuggenheim Collection.
  6. ^Lawrence Weiner: En Route, February 24 – April 2, 2005Marian Goodman Gallery, New York.
  7. ^"DIA Center Bio".Archived fromthe originalon June 20, 2010.RetrievedApril 18,2010.
  8. ^Lawrence Weiner, October 19 – November 23, 2002ArchivedDecember 31, 2010, at theWayback MachineRegen Projects, Los Angeles.
  9. ^Lawrence WeinerMoMA Collection, New York.
  10. ^"A WALL BUILT TO FACE THE LAND & FACE THE WATER AT THE LEVEL OF THE SEA • Pérez Art Museum Miami".Pérez Art Museum Miami.RetrievedSeptember 6,2023.
  11. ^"Trilingual Lawrence Weiner on View at the Jewish Museum".The New York Observer.March 16, 2012.
  12. ^"Lawrence Weiner".
  13. ^"Lawrence Weiner al Museo Nivola: l'Installazione dell'artista newyorkese".June 25, 2019.
  14. ^"Lawrence Weiner: The Grace of a Gesture".Artsy.May 24, 2013.RetrievedJuly 11,2017.
  15. ^"Lawrence Weiner".Blenheim Art Foundation.
  16. ^"ARTIST ROOMS: Lawrence Weiner – London | Tate".October 3, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon October 3, 2015.
  17. ^http:// southlondongallery.org/page/144/Lawrence-Weiner/1015.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  18. ^"The Jewish Museum New York | Art Exhibition | Lawrence Weiner: NO TRE…".archive.is.April 16, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon April 16, 2013.
  19. ^"[:cs]LAWRENCE WEINER: ODEBRÁNO VĚTRU A PŘIKOVÁNO K ZEMI[:en]LAWRENCE WEINER: TAKEN FROM THE WIND AND BOLTED TO THE GROUND[:] on Artyčok".Artyčok.May 24, 2010.
  20. ^"Water in Milk Exists | The Art Newspaper | Swiss Institute".
  21. ^"LAWRENCE WEINER: Exhibition".whitney.org.
  22. ^"Lawrence Weiner: Inherent in the Rhumb Line: New Visions: Art & New Visions: Explore online: RMG".April 3, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon April 3, 2012.
  23. ^"Arsenale Institute / The language of Lawrence Weiner".arsenale.RetrievedFebruary 24,2023.
  24. ^"Commencement 2013: Honorary Degree Citations".gc.cuny.edu.RetrievedOctober 2,2015.
  25. ^"Lawrence Weiner receives 2015 Roswitha Haftmann Prize / Art Review".artreview.RetrievedOctober 2,2015.
  26. ^"Lawrence Weiner wins Aspen Award for Art".February 24, 2017.
  27. ^Bill Power (May 1, 2012),How Do Artists Say I Love You?New York Times.
  28. ^Karen Wright (January 17, 2014),In the studio: Lawrence Weiner, artistThe Independent.
  29. ^Geoff Manaugh (April 2010),Village PeopleDwell.
  30. ^Thessaly La Force (February 14, 2011),Studio Visit: Lawrence WeinerThe Paris Review.
  31. ^"Lawrence Weiner (1942–2021)".Artforum. December 2, 2021.RetrievedDecember 3,2021.

External links[edit]

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